Monday, December 26, 2011


This is a masculine birthday card. I need more of these! Though the guys I usually give cards to don't really care what they look like. It just isn't that important to them, but I like to give them out just the same.


The base on this card is actually a deep brown, I assume it is early espresso. The blue is then embossed on the edge- and I got it kind of crooked, but it still looks good. The stamp is from the set:
Delightful Dozen

We colored the stamp with a brown marker after inking it up with the blue ink. Enjoy!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Merry Christmas


Merry Christmas- another card using the crumb cake paper. This one is cuter in real life. In the picture you can't really see the 3D effect of the ornament. What I did hear was I punched the ornament piece out of the paper. Then I tied the ribbon around the piece of cardstock and glued it on the back. I then stamped the greeting and stuck the piece down onto the base with dimensionals so it is elevated. I then punched the designer paper with the ornament punch and glued it down by putting it through the punched hole, it ends up being glued to the base of the card. Fold another piece of ribbon into a bow and glue to the top of the ornament over the ribbon hanger piece. I hope you understand this! Enjoy!

I hope you have a:
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

How about another Christmas Card?


Holiday Greetings-this is a simple but great Christmas card! Don't you agree?
I have to tell you how to make the greeting base. It is actually an embossed oval that is cut out. The greeting is stamped on another piece of white paper and stuck to the embossed oval. It is nice how the punches and embossing folders and such all coordinate together. That is the reason I started with Stampin' Up! in the first place.


The leaves and red glitter circles were cut out with a Big Shot die from the Holiday Mini Catalog called Originals Die. The stamp set that the greeting comes from is the Sincere Salutations set. I hope you like it!





Monday, December 19, 2011

Yes, another Christmas card


Okay here is a red and green Christmas card. My favorite color combo. I tend to navigate towards this color combo especially in my quilts. It isn't planned that way, I just noticed it one day that I have a lot of quilts with the red and green shades. Oh, well enough of that! I used an embossing folder to give the top of the card base some texture. The stamp is one of the doilies from the Delicate Doilies stamp set. The ribbon is satin and a little tricky to fold but worth it! Enjoy!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Christmas card


Another Christmas card for you to feast on. The old standby stamp set: Lovely as a Tree is used on this card. I also used a clear block for the rectangle over stamp, if you know what I mean here. The snowflake stamp is from the set: Serene Snowflakes

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas!


Joy at Christmas!
I love the simplicity of this card and the GLITTER! I don't know how well you can see the glitter on the designer paper but it is on almost all of the ornaments. It is so sparkely! The punched scallop circle behind the greeting is made out of the silver glitter paper. It is a very pretty and simply made card.
I made this card at one of my friends card classes. (Dawn O.) Sorry I can't find the stamp any where in the catalog or mini catalogs (Stampin' Up!) so I don't know where Dawn got it, but she always uses SU products. (Dawn Olchefske)

Happy Holidays

Friday, December 9, 2011


Just for You-another Birthday card, cute and simple!


This is a simple card using the Big Shot embossing folder and Top Note die cut. The bird cage was stamped and cut out to give the card some dimension. Crumb Cake paper is used for the base, I love that color! I believe that marina mist is the blue color that you see and you could just about use any blue on this card with the crumb cake base.

Stamp sets used: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Aviary

Wednesday, December 7, 2011


Another Birthday card-this one for a child.


As you can probably tell the colors of this card are different. The base is one of the new in colors. I made this and several other cards at a class given by Dawn Olchefske. She was my upline when I was a Stampin' Up! demonstator. The class is called something like Card Buffet. She makes up several card kits and the participants get to choose 8 cards that they want to make. You can also make more if you want it just costs extra. I think it is a great idea and a great way to build up your card stash. Since I didn't make up the card though I can only guess at the recipe. I think you can tell by the pictures what was used. I will try to list the stamp sets for you. All materials are from Stampin' Up!

Stamp sets used: Sweets for the Sweet, Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess)

Monday, November 28, 2011

That Time of Year!

Hi everyone, it's that time of year again, yes, you guessed it----tax season! Well, not quite yet, but I am back to work and that means less time to craft cards. I will still be creating some cards but not on a week-to-week basis. I know I don't do a lot right now and this back to work thing will really reduce my time to make cards, but on the bright side I will be making some money to purchase more supplies! Yeah!

Okay, so that isn't the greatest thing that could happen. To my family though, it is pretty good, they get to maybe uhm....eat a treat every once in a while, and I get to be able to pay my bills. Nowadays that is something not everyone can do. Anyway, I am going to try to keep posting every week at least once. Hopefully you'll keep coming back to look...

Happy Holidays!
Shari

Thursday, November 24, 2011

3 Flowers Yeah!


These are the three flower cards I made. I call them pink, red, and purple!


This is a close up of the purple one.


Here is a close up of the pink flower which also shows you the layers of paper. I die cut four flowers with the Big Shot and wet them with water. I crumpled them up and then unfolded them and layered them. Then I pinched them together to dry. After they dried I had to glue each layer together so they would stay together. They turn out really stiff and keep their shape real nice. I learned that is because the paper has glue already in it. It is really fun to make these flowers. I also made some other types that I will post later.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Recipe:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Early Espresso
Papers: designer paper (SU and non-SU), crumb cake, pink, purple, white
Accessories: buttons, paper-piercing tool



Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Flowers!


3x3 card


4.25 x 5.5 card

I love the colors in this card! I cased it from the Stampin' Up! Idea and Catalog 2011-2012. It isn't quite the same but it is close. I love the poppy parade red. It is bright and perfect for a flowery happy birthday card. I also like the stamping and embossing done on the crumb cake paper. I love the crumb cake paper with practically anything. Okay, I stamped then embossed the flowers in white embossing powder. I did a couple of extra ones so I could cut some out after I sponged some poppy parade ink onto them. I then stuck these extra ones on the cards. I made a 3x3 and a 4.25 x 5.5. After I post these cards I see some areas where I could have improved upon. I should have cut the white scalloped part a little better instead I just plow on through! Maybe the recipient won't even notice....

Here is the recipe:
Stamps: fifth avenue floral, create a cupcake (greeting on 3x3 card), well scripted
Inks: versamark
Paper: poppy parade, crumb cake, garden green, white
Accessories: embossing powder, twine

Monday, November 21, 2011

Two Butterflies


These are 3x3 cards. I made them to be birthday cards. There isn't much to say about them. They are pretty simple. I'm not sure about the colors but I thought I would try something a little different. Let me know what you think...should I have used a yellow base?...should I have used a different color for the butterflies?...let me know, thanks!

Recipe:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: night of navy
Paper: designer paper, white, night of navy
Accessories: flower punch, brads, big shot butterfly die, dots embossing folder

Friday, November 11, 2011

With Gratitude


With Gratitude

I stamped then embossed this card with the copper embossing powder from SU. This was discontinued years ago, but I still had some left over and thought this cards would be a good candidate for it. So, in the card above you can see the embossing. The card below was put flat so it does look different but it is the same card. I used the SU watercolor crayons to "paint" the picture, and an aquapainter. The watercolor crayons are very easy to use and I like them better than using the ink pad for coloring.


I used many colors here so I am not going to list them all. I did stamp the "With Gratitude" saying under the picture, and I also stamped a saying inside. Just to let you know if you don't already, I use what I have on hand for the most part. So, I have a lot of retired sets and colors that I still use. If you ever wonder what I have used for something, just ask and I'll get back to you.

 Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Gifts of the Earth, With Gratitude
Ink: Various Watercolor crayons
Paper: Creamy Caramel, Vanilla, a couple of printed papers
Accessories: Button, Twine
Techniques: Tearing, Sponging, Embossing, Watercoloring

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving


In Everything Give Thanks

I like this saying, simple and to the point. This is what I want these 3x3 cards to be; simple and to the point. I watercolored the turkey and hoped that it would look better than it does.
Overall, I think it came out okay.
I used ink pads and a blender pen to color.

Recipe:
Stamps: Gifts of the Earth (SU Holiday Mini 09-10), Happy Harmony
Inks: Dusty Durango, Creamy Caramel, Soft Sky, Black
Paper: Black, Vanilla, Dusty Durango, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: Red Twine, Circle Punches, Scallop Punch

Monday, November 7, 2011

Another birthday


Another pinwheel birthday card.
I got the idea of using the doily stamp for the background and I like this one much better. The only other change is no thread bow in the center of the pinwheel. I have to keep it simple. (KISS)

Recipe:
Stamps: Delicate Doilies, Petite Pairs
Ink: Rose red, pink
Paper: Pink, white, designer paper
Accessories: silver cord, embossing folder, button brad, square punch


Friday, November 4, 2011

Happy Birthday


Happy Birthday Wishes

Here is another birthday card 3x3 inch, that I made using pinwheels. It is small so it has to be simple. I try to embellish with some elements to make it more cute, yet keep the cost down. I should work on the background more I think. I made the pinwheel out of DSP that is printed on both sides. I started with punching out a square and then cutting to the center from each corner. I didn't cut quite all the way to the center. I then folded the points to the center and anchored them with sticky tape or a glue dot and then put in the button brad. I also took some thread and made it into a bow and stuck it in the middle on the brad. The stick is made by rolling up some regular white printer paper.



Side view



These use different color schemes.

The recipe:
Stamps: Petite Pairs for greeting
Ink: Brilliant blue, Lucky Limeade
Paper: Orange, Yellow, Blue, white, Designer papers
Accessories: Non-SU brads, gold and silver (Sulky) thread, gold and silver cord, dots embossing folder

Thursday, November 3, 2011


Aren't these cute? These were all made with Stampin' Up! stamps and papers. One of the stamp sets is called "Trendy Trees." The bird set was discontinued (and maybe the tree set, but I am not sure). One of the unfortunate things about Stampin' Up! is that sometimes I think they discontine a stamp set too early. I know they have to make room for new sets but some of the ones they discontinue are so cute! We can still use them though! It isn't the same though is it? Again, thanks for looking.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Picture Frame


This is a wooden picture frame that I painted. I probably should put a picture in it....uhm, it's so hard to choose. I have so many pictures. I will find one, I should put a picture of my grandchildren in there. I also like to paint. I think a lot of people like to paint they just don't know what to paint as a subject or feel that they have to be as good as Renoir or Michelangelo. That is not so! Everyone can paint. Art skills are learned just like anything else. It also takes practice to get really good at it, just like anything else! Oh, well, enjoy. Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Bonjour

A card I made a little while ago and never posted. The stamps are from Stampin' Up! but they are discontinued. I should have used the same green for the base as I have for the vocal point. I think I have improved somewhat since I made this card, at least I hope so!


Thursday, October 27, 2011

Ships Ahoy!

I consider this a masculine birthday card (duh, really!). I tried some collage on this. I think it worked out okay but I really need to learn to make cards more interesting. I didn't know what else to do with this one so here it is. I don't have the stamp set, I used my friends' set when we got together to stamp. Guys really don't care much about cards so I am satisfied with this one and will move on to the next one.

A close up. You see I cut out the compass and popped it up. It looks better in real time. Maybe a little glitter on the compass? I think I might try that...

Here is the recipe:
Stamp sets: Background stamp sanded, It's Your Birthday, The Open Sea
Inks: Real Red, Basic Gray, Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Black
Paper: Real Red, Vanilla, Soft Suede
Accessories: (Tim Holtz) Machinery parts, Ribbon, Sewing machine

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Autumn Leaves

My Autumn Leaves card. I was thinking about the leaves falling and looked out my window for the inspiration to this card. I have a lot of trees in my yard and they are all losing those pretty leaves of theirs. Our yard is large and holds quite a bit of leaves. Needless to say the raking takes some time!


The 3D leaves had a funky pattern on them and I drew in the brown lines to give the leaves more depth. I probably should have left the funky lines off. It takes away from the image. I'm not doing it over so it stays this time. Hope you like it anyway!

Here is the recipe:
Stamp sets: Razzle Dazzle (greeting), Branch Out, Leaves Galore (by Inkadinkado)
Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, Dusty Durango, Daffodil Delight, Groovy Guava
Papers: Crumb Cake, Vanilla, Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie, DSP, Early Espresso
Accessories: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Modern Label Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, stampin dimensionals 

Monday, October 17, 2011

Happy Birthday Flower


The colors in this picture are looking a little dirty. This card is kinda "dirty" looking in real time though. I used the smooch spray to give it that rough/old kind of look. I was looking for some inspiration and found a card like this in one of the stamping magazines, I think it was actually one of the Stampin' Success mags that I have from when I was a demonstrator. I liked the look and here I have tried to copy it. The flowers were die cut, the white one stamped and then both were sprayed with water and scrunched. I then sprayed the flowers and leaves with the smooch spray, the card is also sprayed on this one. I still don't know if I totally like this one. Oh, well, some are like that right?

Recipe:
Stamps: ?? old hostess set for greeting, French script background stamp (retired)
Cardstock: Creamy caramel, white, lavendar, green
Ink: black, caramel on background
Accessories: Texture plate, Big shot, brad

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Another Christmas Card

I made this card last night after my friend left for home. We got together to make some cards and didn't have time to make this one together. I showed her what I was going to do but I don't know if she will have the materials or time to make it. I made a similar card at a class recently and copied it with the materials I had on hand. Simple card, easy to make, just what I like.
A Christmas Card

A close up of the stocking and embossed circles.

Recipe:
Stamps: All Year Cheer III (retired SU)
Cardstock: Cherry cobbler, white,  flocked designer paper (discontinued-darn!)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: quilted ribbon, stocking punch, gold cord, circle punche, large scallop punch, embossing folder


Friday, October 14, 2011

Making cards


A card by me...I don't do very well at designing cards. I am better at designing and making quilts. I make cards because they are quick to make. A quilt takes a lot of time and I do enjoy it, but I like to have something to show on my blog......So, here is another card of mine. I wanted to make some paper flowers and show some off. Here is one of the flowers I made. I am so pleased, it is the first opportunity I've had to do this and I've found that it is very fun. You can't put this card in a regular envelope though. I'll have to get a large mailing envelope for this one!

Recipe:
Stamps: Elements of Style (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: dark brown, vanilla, rose red
Ink: Rose red, wild wasabi, black
Accessories: scallop punch, top note die, Big Shot, ribbon, lace, embossing folder

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

A Wedding Card


I made a couple more of my 3x3 cards for sale. I concentrated on making a card for a wedding day and this is what I came up with so far. It is really hard to decide what color to use on a wedding card when you use color, because each bride chooses different colors. My daughter loves bright colors so she chose bright blue, yellow, and orange for her bouquet. It was very pretty but I didn't think those colors would do for this card. I might try one with the butterflies-one of each color, which might be pretty, but would anyone purchase it?


A simple white one. I added rhinestones on the rings as an after thought. They now look very "sparkly." Is that a word? Anyway, thanks for looking!

Recipe:
Cardstock: white, pink, and rose red
Ink: black
Stamp set: SU Word Play
Accessories: satin ribbon, Big shot and Embosslit, polka dot embossing folder

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Christmas card 2


I love this Christmas set! It was in the 2009 Holiday Mini from Stampin' Up! It is one of those collage cards that I love so much. Still simple. Love the designer paper with the soft flocking on it.

Recipe:
Cardstock: Sahara sand, vanilla, red, designer paper
Ink: Early Espresso, garden green
Stamp set: Yuletide Christmas
Accessories: Rhinestone

Friday, October 7, 2011

Christmas card


I am going to post some of my 3x3 Christmas cards in the next few days. I kept them simple. I have a hard time adding embellishments to cards. I like them simple I guess. I really love the cards of others that are six layers and either vintage or collage types. I wish I could do the same! This is one of the several Christmas themed cards I made.

Recipe:

Cardstock: White, red, light blue
Inks: red, blue, pumpin, black
Stamp set: retired SU, Tiny Tags
Accessories: Jewelry Tag Punch, glitter


Thursday, October 6, 2011

Spooky Halloween Card


I continue to make some cards to sell at a nearby restaurant. This is one of the Halloween cards that I made for them. Working with the 3x3 size cards is fun. I spend just as much time on these "mini" cards as I do with the regular sized cards (4 1/4 x 5 1/2).


Sometimes there isn't as much room, he,he....of course! So, it is a challenge to make them cute, have a greeting, and keep it simple. I do like how these turned out though.

Recipe: (some supplies Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pumpkin pie, white
Ink: bright green, black, bright purple
Stamp set: Wicked Cool (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: buttons, glitter glue, circle punch, ribbon

Thanks for visiting!

Monday, October 3, 2011

New Baby Thank You


I made a set of these cards for a friend who just had her fifth baby. I don't have a lot of money for gifts right now, so I thought that since I have all the supplies, I could make a set of thank you notes/cards for her to use for other gifts that she receives. It is what I can give and who can ask for more? I really like the simplicity of two colors. I wanted to fancy up the thank you spot a little more but I wanted my friends to be able to mail these easily, since she has five children to bring to the post office now.... The recipe follows the second view.


Recipe: (all supplies are Stampin' Up!)


Cardstock: White, Pacific Point
Ink: Pacific Point
Stamp set: Animal Stories
Accessories: white ribbon, circle punches, square lattice embossing folder, (under the ribbon-scallop trim border and dotted scallop ribbon border)

Friday, September 30, 2011

Hello


Hello...This card involves a lot of stamping and punching. Easy though a little time consuming. Isn't it interesting that the small cards take just as much time as the bigger ones? Stamp the background image first then all the other images on white and punch them out. Emboss a 4x6 piece of green cardstock and cut it into strips-1x3" to make several cards. Put it all together!
Recipe: (all Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Olive, white
Ink: Melon mambo, olive, baja breeze, daffodil
Stamps: Cheep Talk
Accessories: circle punches, jewel brad, dots embossing folder, Big Shot

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

May your Layers be Many...


A pink birthday greeting! This little card is for a birthday, obvious! This one took a little bit more time than something a little simpler just because of the coloring and the paper piercing. It gives it a great look though! What do you think?
Recipe:
Cardstock: Regal Rose, yellow, Certainly celery, white
Ink: watercolor crayons: pink, blue and yellow
Stamp set: Birthday Bliss (retired 2010)
Accessories: paper piercing tool, button, circle cutter or circle punches

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Amazing


Another 3x3 card that I made meant for a birthday or special message. Simple to make. I probably should have worked on that punched border a little more. It is amazing how you notice the little things when you post pictures on-line. I used a lot of punches on this little gem.
Recipe:
Cardstock: Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Olive, and white
Ink: cajun craze, more mustard
Punches: Boho Blossoms, Scallop trim border, small circle punches
Stamp set: On a Pedestal (retired 2010)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Masculine Birthday


Hi, this is a masculine birthday card that got a little crooked when I scanned it in. You can still see it pretty good so I am leaving it as is. I used all kinds of elements in this little 3x3" card. It was a little involved so if you decide to make it plan on taking a little time for it. After using the impression folder on the gray, I rubbed some ink over the raised areas to help the embossing to stand out. I used the Big Shot to cut out the leaf branch and punches for the tag shape.  As always, here is the recipe:
Recipe:
Rust, light blue, white, olive and dark gray cardstock
Dark gray taffeta ribbon
Textured impression folder: circles
SU Tag punches and SU sizzlet die for leaf branch
Stamp sets: Fox and Friends, Teenie tiny wishes

Friday, September 23, 2011

Sweet Stuff


Isn't this a cute card? I stamped the swirly image and embossed it with white embossing powder on red cardstock, then wrapped it in cellophane to make it look like a lollipop. I also rolled some white paper and used it for a lollipop stick.
Recipe:
Pumpkin pie, white, wild wasabi, red cardstock
Textured embossing folder: Perfect Polka Dots
Circle cutter
Baja Breeze 1/8th inch taffeta ribbon
Stamp sets: Trendy Trees, greeting from unknown set

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Another Halloween card


Here I have another Halloween card. I make these cards to sell. They are mostly 3x3 inches unless otherwise stated. I added some black glitter to the happy halloween letters, to bad you can't see it! (on the 31 too!) I scanned these in so maybe I should take a picture so you can see the glitter better.
Recipe:
black, pumpkin, and white cardstock
Designer paper for the strip
Stampin' Up! rubber stamp set: Dark and Dreary

Have a great day!